Business of the nursery school of Neuilly

The business of the nursery school of Neuilly indicates the catch as an hostage of a class of nursery school with Neuilly-sur-Seine (France), in 1993, by a Entrepreneur Informaticien depressive Chomeur, Erick Schmitt.

Taking of hostages

Thursday May 13rd 1993 with 9:27, a man vêtu of black, the head hidden by a helmet of motorcyclist and a Hood, made irruption in the nursery class N8 of the school complex Commander Charcot , with Neuilly-sur-Seine.

This man, armed with an explosive and alarm gun, threatens to make jump the room if it does not obtain a ransom of one hundred franc million. These threats are made credible by its last demonstrations because it had taken care, before, to make voluntarily jump several dustbins by leaving a signature there. Its hostages, blackjacks children and their teacher Laurence Dreyfus, thus are well threatened. The Raid is quickly dispatched on the spot. The investigators seek to identify the taker of hostages, but they will not reach that point before the end of the taking of hostages. The man is then known only under the name of “Human Bomb” (Human Bomb) or “HB”, which it itself gave. It is only at the any end of the taking of hostages that its name is revealed.

The media seize the business. Journalists camp in front of the school. The taking of hostages becomes an national event. Nicolas Sarkozy, at the time mayor of Neuilly, tries to negotiate with Érick Schmitt so that it slackens children; one on television sees Nicolas Sarkozy leaving the school a child in the arms.

During negotiations, Érick Schmitt releases little by little the majority of the children, until keeping of them only six, and this in spite of the fact that it had specified in its first ransom demand which no newborn would be released before it obtained the sum requested. He had also threatened to carry out children (by sticking) in the event of absence of prompt response of the authorities but this threat was not put at execution.

After nearly two days of tension without sleeping, in a suicidal frame of mind, Érick Schmitt shows signs of tiredness. The Raid then decides to pass to the action when he falls asleep. The plan envisaged is to insert the men of the Raid in the room during the sleep of the taker of hostages. While two men hold it out of cheek, ready to neutralize it if it awakes, the others will evacuate the hostages out of the room. To make sure that Érick Schmitt will be well deadened at the time of the attack, the men of the Raid pour a sleeping pill (of which the effectiveness was tested beforehand on a man of the Raid) in the coffee regularly brought to the taker of hostages. By precaution, Evelyne Lambert (then doctor-captain of the firemen of Paris), which dealt with the children, is put in the secrecy. It will have to make sure that Eric Schmitt is well deadened, and to make a signal (to peel off its jacket in front of the objective of a mini-camera placed through the wall by the Raid) to mean with the police officers who they can intervene.

The morning of the May 15th, the taker of hostages calms down. Evelyne Lambert checks that he is well deadened, by shaking it and while making bruyamment move pieces of furniture by the children. This one remains inert. She makes the agreed signal then. With approximately of 7:25, eight police officers of the RAID penetrate in the classroom to extract the last six children. During the intervention, Eric Schmitt is killed out of three balls in the head drawn with one meter by the police officer Daniel Boulanger. The circumstances of this death create a polemic.

It is only after its death that the identity of that which was made call “HB” during all the taking of hostages is known: it was Eric Schmitt, a data processing specialist in financial position difficult, intelligent, and in depression. Lastly, it had revealed in Laurence Dreyfus, a few hours before its death, which meant “HB”: it was the acronym of Human Bomb (bends human).

The author

According to the newspaper Humanity, Erick Schmitt was a contractor data processing specialist of Languedoc Roussillon, impassioned fishing, born in 1950, and having worked in Paris in the years 1970.

It arrived at Cers close to Béziers with its family in 1963 after having left Algeria.

It left to work with Paris, with the beginning of the year 1970, where it was employed by a firm computer in Paris region.

Following its Parisian experiment it created a data-processing company with Béziers which was put in bankruptcy four years later.

Erick Schmitt remained registers with unemployment with the ANPE of Béziers during one year.

Fishing was the principal occupation of its leisures in area bitteroise.

The mother of Erick was victim of an mild heart attack after having learned the implication from her son in this business.

Its personality

For Gilles Nakab, Doctor psychiatrist working with the RAID, it “felt invested a mission, and the money did not seem to be its principal motivation” . “It is a cold character, determined, but who was very calm. It forever be nervous and forever known as a word of too. ” For him, it sought to carry out a mission.

For Gilles Nakab and Evelyne Lambert, doctor-captain of the firemen of Paris, Erick Schmitt “was very nice with the children, does not have them to in no case threatened and he even played with them” . “It was determined, very structured, its word was coherent, its correct vocabulary. It was polished, even obséquieux. Sometimes, it was reached delirious puffs. ”

It could be a question of Délire paranoiac.

Polemic on the death of Erick Schmitt

According to the two police officers charged to neutralize Erick Schmitt if it awoke during the intervention, this one would have awaked and outlined a gesture in direction of its detonator.

The arguments called upon by holding of the idea of the premeditated execution are numerous, but do not prove formally that such an execution really occurred:

Erick Schmitt was deeply deadened at the entry of the police officers in the room, which had checked Evelyne Lambert before. In its deposition, this one stated to have made “a terrible din” by moving pieces of furniture, and to have strongly shaken Erick Schmitt while saying to him to awake. The essence of the theory of the execution is due to the fact that there is no witness other than the two police officers of the Raid supervising Erick Schmitt at the time of the intervention, which saw this one awaking. From where the idea that it would have been killed in its sleep, whereas it did not represent a direct danger.
the entry of the police officers, and the intervention until the shootings, was done in a total silence, as the recordings of the microphones show it which the Raid had placed in the walls of the room. There was thus no noise likely to awake Schmitt. As opposed to what one often said, no child did not push a cry while being frightened by the hooded police officers.
the balls which killed Erick Schmitt were drawn by only one from the two police officers charged to supervise it. It is consequently difficult to explain why one of the police officers did not considered to be necessary to draw whereas his/her colleague drew with three recoveries, reaching Schmitt with the head. Two of the balls followed the same trajectory exactly, entered (one cannot exclude that they are the drawn second and third balls, and that Schmitt had already died and motionless after the first shooting).
the hood which Erick Schmitt carried was washed, before to be placed at the disposal of the investigators. Some supposed that the police officers of the Raid washed it to eliminate from the powder traces which would prove that Schmitt was killed with bearing end, and thus that the police officers could have seized the detonator which it carried in order to make safe the room instead of killing it. Because of washing, one can neither confirm nor to cancel this version.

As of June, official version of facts is disputed by Trade union of magistrature which estimates that Charles Pasqua would have ordered the execution of the taker of hostages, who seemed to show signs of tiredness (lack of sleep), to the detriment of the solution of the talks. For much, the time of action was too fast and with too many stakes so that the rapid deployment forces have time to estimate the real threat. They acted according to the supposed threat and the precaution principle. While entering, they knew that they would hardly have other choice to kill the exaggerated one, if it awoke.

A few months later Alain Vogelweith and Beatrice Patrie, two frameworks of the trade union, publish “Death out the law of Erick Schmitt” (). According to this work, during the shooting the taker of hostages had fallen asleep, the detonator out of reach. The two authors were continued for slandering by Charles Pasqua.

In July 1993, a complaint against X was deposited by the family of Erick Schmitt for “voluntary manslaughter with premeditation”. Under the terms of a meticulous investigation, the magistrate charged to inform this complaint concluded with the withdrawal of case. The controversy remains however little mediatized, undoubtedly because the possible fault of the police officers was regarded as benign vis-a-vis the taboo which had enfreint Erick Schmitt while threatening of died of young children|date=

In September 2007, at the time of the diffusion on France 2 of a docu-drama in connection with the business, a journalist of the time bears witness in the version béta of the site of Daniel Scheidermann, " @rrêt on images". In the comments of a post (begun again in source), " JRI" mention the disappearance of the videotape corresponding at the time of died of HB (the taking of hostage having been filmed interior by the RAID), as well as rather festive reactions of the RAID (turned by the journalist but ever diffused). He wonders finally about the official press release provided by the Beauvau Place, which recalls the course of operation, but which would be dated from the day before. Testimony was authenticated by the site, but does not have for the moment have any media development.

Around the business

Laurence Dreyfus was called “teacher-courage”. Shortly after the taking of hostages, it was decorated with the Légion of honor by François Mitterrand. Edouard Balladur invited it to Matignon.
a father of pupil, Pierre Narboni, takes part in the negotiations and allows the release of several children.
the exact role of Nicolas Sarkozy in the negotiations with the taker of hostages does not achieve the unanimity. Interviewed in the emission “Make enter the defendant”, the journalist Jean Pierre About, old the public prosecutor of Nanterre Pierre Lyon-Caen and the former director of the National police force of the Hauts-de-Seine Aimé Touitou, affirms that Nicolas Sarkozy was binding in the crisis cell and vis-a-vis the journalists. In the emission “Monday investigation”, Pierre Lyon-Caen reconsiders the business: “It has the reflex, which shows the political animal, to make come the only man from communication, fireman in charge of the communication, which had a camera. ” According to the report, the attitude of Nicolas Sarkozy led the taker of hostage to break the negotiations, and Charles Pasqua decided to move away Nicolas Sarkozy from the site of the taking of hostages. The RAID descerné its decoration to him.
on September 13rd, 2007, the telefilm H.B. Human Bomb - Nursery school as an hostage , interfering real images time, scenes played by actors and testimonys, was diffused on RTL-TVi. The French press commented on the telefilm without questioning itself front on the facts that it describes.

External bonds

Tv news of May 15th, 1993 which reports the outcome of the taking of hostage (files INA)
Récit on the “semi-official” site of the RAID

References

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